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Deep-Fried Controversy

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Deep-Fried Controversy

January 14, 2008 4:15 pmJanuary 14, 2008 4:15 pm

No one has wielded the power of humor more effectively on the campaign trail than Mike Huckabee, whose one-liners have softened the edge on his Republican populism and enhanced his image as a likable alternative to his better financed opponents. But a joke at Mr. Huckabee’s expense has caused a major headache for a young satire show on public radio as it faced the wrath of a religious advocacy group.

Last Monday, “Fair Game,” a topical comedy show owned and produced by Public Radio International, ran a skit intended to poke fun at “the increasingly disturbing tactics used to undermine candidates generally,” as a statement from the program put it.

One joke involved a fake Huckabee recipe “leaked by a rival campaign” in order to highlight the candidate’s notorious former heft.

The recipe was for “deep-fried body of Christ.” Here’s some of the script:

Deep fry it in fat, not vegetable oil, ladies, until crispy. Serve piping hot. Mike likes to top his Christ with whipped cream and sprinkles, but his wife Janet and the boys like theirs with heavy gravy and, mmm, cream puffs. It goes great with red wine.

Faith Salie, the host, chimes in at the end: “Now that is just ridiculous. Everyone knows evangelicals don’t believe in transubstantiation.”

But Catholics do. And, objecting to a perceived “assault on Jesus,” the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights orchestrated a response directed at one NPR affiliate, KCPW in Salt Lake City.:

Therefore, we are asking for an investigation. Whoever it was, he or she used presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee and evangelicals as foil, saving the real sucker punch for Roman Catholics.

This is despicable on several counts: it is blasphemous and bigoted. But it may also be motivated by a political calculus, making it really dirty if it is.

Two days after the original broadcast, Bryan Schott, a host on KCPW, outlined his thoughts on the matter after “spending most of my day fielding calls and e-mails from people who are outraged” by the skit:

On one hand, you can’t denigrate someone because they took offense at a comedy skit. Comedy is subjective. But, on the other hand, satire is protected by the First Amendment (something that is near and dear to my heart).

On Wednesday, the skit was removed from “Fair Game’s” Web site and podcasts, and Ms. Salie issued an apology the next day.

“It was certainly not our intention to belittle anyone’s faith, and we’re sorry if this offended any of our listeners,” she said. In a further statement provided to us by a spokesman for P.R.I., she added:

We are trying to do a topical comedy show in an effort to bring a bigger and younger audience to public radio. While it’s disappointing that certain religious groups are trying to control the content of a public radio show, I stand by my apology, because it was not our intent to offend anyone. I am a Catholic myself, and while the piece did not offend me, it seems we may have gone too far for some people.

In a statement, the Catholic League said the apology “effectively ends the discussion.”

This is not the first time the group, headed by William Donohue, has flexed its muscle on a 2008-related matter. Two liberal bloggers hired by John Edwards’s campaign ultimately quit last February after the Catholic League generated an onslaught of complaints about writings in their personal blogs.

For its part, the Huckabee campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

While the argument can certainly be made that these objections are largely coming from the grasstops—the Catholic League’s board is made up of some of the biggest names on the right front of the culture wars—a glance at the comments on Bryan Schott’s blog hints at the genuine offense some people took. (It also illustrates that they probably aren’t screening their comments for language like we do here, so reader beware.)

This is less offensive than Romney’s comment that democracy needs religion. He wasn’t just joking. Agnostics and atheists aren’t enough of a presence in America to force an apology when they are denigrated.

While I do understand that they have the right to protest perceived attacks on their religion, those people need to lighten up a little, along with all of the other “surgically-removed-sense-of-humor” groups who just can’t take a joke. Satire is an excellent tool for pointing out fallacies in commonly held beliefs, and people as a whole would benefit if some people were forced to watch/listen to satire of their viewpoints. Hey, I thought it was mildly amusing, and I’m a fairly devout Christian (not a Catholic, though).

I doubt you’ll get this but let me say that any comment made about anyone in public does not have to be based on truth or even understanding. This should be taken and believed when dealing with candidates. It gives unfair pr to candiates. They should not be scrutinized in public but in legal or political organizations.

Bill Donahue of the Catholic League is an extremist right wing ideologue who inserts himself, in the name of Catholicism, into all kinds of arguments which are marginal and often healthy criticisms of the church. He rides the media waves as kind of a Roman Bill O’Reilly taking care of all offenders who might dare advance anything of the secular-progressive or humanist ilk. I’m sure he was Rev. Jerry Falwell’s favorite papist.

That being said, the NPR’s literary desecration of the Eucharist and the doctrine of transubstantiation is beyond the pale. To perhaps 50 million Americans, this is one of the most sublime mysteries of life. We must all celebrate free speech, but this surely surpasses cartoons of Mohammed as a tool to enrage true believers.

Lets face facts!! We need a young agressive statesmen with the guts to jst say No more spendin in iraq,get our troop poition striated out and get our economy back on track. Jon McCain is not this fellow to old an out of touch, had 20 years to straighten out his AZ boarders Cannot get it done.
Mike Huckabee well he will fall apart at firt coflict. No back bonehis state says raise taxes ff he went an never looked back, business ARK not much toshow me..Well Who can beat Obama only Romney…He is looking for a fight an can dish out the crap that will make USA come alive at election time Lets make some changes for Gods sake in 2008 do what isbest for the working man Keep businesses in the USA making money and paying big taxes…Let the small business put some people to work without being put out of work..How about controling white collar banking crime…Whos he man? Romney or Obama Thanks The Independent

Ah yes, deep fried Jesus, for that heavenly crunchiness. The only snack that causes the blind to see, and the lame to dance the Watusi.

That’s along the same lines, so are any Catholics going to state that I am assaulting their religion and a baby killer to boot?

I’m not sure how much this has to do with Huckabee, since it was just a silly joke at his expense, and his campaign is wisely ignoring it. I think it’s more about how this Catholic Donohue League is somewhat similar to those deranged Muslims who rioted over a Danish cartoon showing that Moe fellow.

Too bad the jokers apologized. They should have said, “Donohue, go watch a few seasons of South Park and Family Guy, and if that doesn’t give you a heart attack, let us know how offensive deep-fried Christ wafers are again”. Maybe we should have a law, that people with no sense of humor never get to demand apologies.

This “joke” which is of the ancient vaudeville ethnic stereotype variety, is absolutely no worse than the efforts of the main stream media to pigeon hole anyone of faith as a single issue candidate. The simple fact that Governor Huckabee is more than the sum of his beliefs.
In the interim, two thoughts- 1. Radio America or whatever it was called failed because liberals do not understand or practice funny humor and 2. It’s time to stop wasting taxpayer monies on so called “public” broadcasting. The market will sustain entertainment; propaganda will have to go it alone.

Candidates Huckabee & McCain seem to be stand-up guys.
Pro life: (John the Baptist lept in his mother’s womb when Mary arrived with her good news).
Experience: Gov. & executive action; warrior, senator—but
Where do they stand when the Republican Party takes away one-half of Floridians’ right to representation? The Democratic Party took away Mich. Demo. primary rights & will do the same to Florida.
I can support pro-choice when the choice applies prior to conception, otherwise PROLIFE is the only platform I will support.
I can NOT support removing any American’s right to representation–even just a little.
Where stand ye, Huckabee & McCain?
Our forefathers had something to say & do in Boston about taxation without representation-what have we come to?
Thank you for this opportunity.
W. Moore

I can look past Huckabee’s schtick about his supporters shovelling snow into their neighbors’ driveways and letting the air out of their tires to prevent them from voting for other candidates. However, tasteless that may be, I am truly offended by his suggestion that he would amend the Constitution to be more in keeping with God’s word, and by his injection of the divisive though-shall-not tenets of his faith into this campaign. He not only lost my good will toward his candidacy, but now I feel that he must be stopped. He is now a divider with a profound lack of understanding of one of the most basic principals of American democracy–the separaton of church and state.